“What? I’m trying to help you here!”
“I’ll call you back.”
I hang up. Stare at my phone.
Three notifications already. How can the photo be everywhere? It’s been, like, a minute and a half? X, Instagram, fan accounts I didn’t know existed.
The image loads.
There we are. Me looking down at her. Her looking up at me with those wide eyes, surprised, but with something else—I can’t unpack it. But my arm around her back, the warm glow of Ironclad behind us…
We look like arealcouple.
And the comments are rolling in:
@renodaisy: Oh my word, they’re so cute!
@Letsgoblue: Candy finally found someone!
@LuvCats39: She’s gorgeous! Who is she?
@NHLOnline: Hockey’s heartbreaker is off the market!
My phone buzzes. Text from Tyler.
Tyler
DUDE. Who is she?! Way to go!!!
Another from Kalen.
Kalen
Bout time you settled down, Candy!
Team group chat exploding with questions.
And then, at the bottom of my notifications:
Rick
Management will love this. Keep it going. This is exactly the image we needed.
I pocket my phone. Look down the empty street where Chloe disappeared.
Someone explain to me how, within the last ten minutes, I’ve somehow:
found the woman I’ve been looking for;
claimed her as my girlfriend without asking;
